Current Status – Christian Internet Filters

Thanks for your interest in our Christian internet filters. Unfortunately, you’ve stumbled upon our service during a period of tremendous change.

As of this moment, our filters are not functioning. I’m working hard on rebuilding the entire service from the ground up. I recommend joining our Facebook group to stay up-to-date on our rebuild.

Back in early 2021, I told the Lord, “I want to do something that puts me clearly on your side – something that identifies me with your Kingdom.”

Then, I experienced something shocking. I had an experience where I saw how the radical LGBTQ propaganda was affecting a young person I loved.

I had spent the previous year figuring out how to filter our family’s internet at the router level. Anyone connected to our home Wi-Fi was automatically protected. Or so I thought…

After that startling personal experience where I saw how deceptive and subversive the internet can be, I decided to see if the internet filters I had set up on our family’s Wi-Fi were blocking websites promoting LGBTQ ideology. I was using the most popular “family-friendly” internet filter in existence.

I discovered the world’s most widely-distributed “family filter” was NOT blocking websites like:
lgbtqnation.com
advocate.com
thepinknews.com
mykidisgay.com
pronouns.page

It wasn’t even blocking websites promoting abortion:
plannedparenthood.org
plancpills.org
abortionfinder.org

(Go ahead – click some of those links. If they load, any “parental controls” you’ve got running right now are NOT blocking those sites!)

I thought, “Surely there’s a Christian internet filter out there that will block this stuff…”. So I went looking.

I could not find a single service that boldly advertised they blocked these kinds of evil websites.

Instead, I found disappointing stories like this:

The Mistake that Caused Cloudflare Family (1.1.1.3) to Block LGBTQIA+ Sites Today

The ACLU Suing School Districts for Protecting Kids Online

I prayed… “Lord, do you want me to build an internet filter committed to Christian values? I’ll be labeled a ‘bigot’. I don’t want to talk about “p*rn” in public.”

————

But I determined that perhaps the Lord had answered my prayer. He had given me a project to put me clearly on His side.

I started researching how to build the internet filtering service that I wanted as a Christian parent. I knew there would be other Christian parents who would want it too.

I spent months researching. Finally, I stumbled across someone who had built a software tool that could do what I needed it to do. This developer forked their existing codebase to accomplish the goals I had: not only blocking explicit material, but also blocking propaganda the world’s Big Tech companies didn’t think was harmful — material they pushed down kids throats at every turn.

During “Pride Month” of 2021, I was ready for launch. I paid a few hundred dollars to send out a press release via a Christian newswire service.

I knew something had gone wrong when I got my first call on the new company phone number. I was excited, thinking perhaps it was the first Christian reporter calling to write a story about our new service. Instead, the voice on the other end said, “I just called to make fun of you. And to let you know I’ll be laughing when God throws you into hell for all the kids that killed themselves because of people like you.”

In that moment, I knew my press release had not landed with Christian news outlets the way I’d hoped. I went online and searched Google for “FreeFiltering” and “Michael Mason”.

I found there had been a handful of articles written by secular papers and pro-LGBTQ new sites. One of them in particular had “gone viral” and included an old family photo from my Facebook page.

A week later, a pro-life news website wrote an article summarizing the rabid response to our launch. This article was shared many times over, resulting in 300-400 families registering on the site in the first couple months.

————

Within 6 months of launching, my life was turned upside down in ways I never expected. My marriage imploded despite my efforts to save it. I prayed, I fasted, and I cried. I sought wisdom from a multitude of godly counselors. Many of our early users walked with me through that difficult time.

The most recent difficulty ended our filtering service as it has operated the last four years. In the last year, I came to the conclusion that it was unacceptable for me to continue investing the Lord’s time and money into a codebase I could not fully control.

The existing codebase that powered the filters could not be updated or improved. I’d received dozens of requests for improvements over the years, but I did not have the ability to implement most of them. I decided that continuing to invest in operating the service under those circumstances was not good stewardship moving forward. I tried to acquire the old codebase so I could fully control it; my efforts were costly and futile.

So I began working feverishly on a replacement filtering system to replace the old system. My hope was to have the new replacement system ready in time to give all of our users plenty of notice to make the necessary changes to transition to the new system. That did not happen.

When you log into your account at FreeFiltering.org today, you can see a preview of the new user dashboard where you will control your filters in the future. But the new filtering system is not ready yet. There is nothing for you to do. There is nothing to set up. The new filtering system is simply not ready yet.

That’s why I recommend joining our Facebook group. That’s where I’ll provide updates on the status of the new system’s launch.

If you can add me and my family to your prayer list, it is greatly appreciated. Pray that I will be able to quickly roll out the new system. Pray that our family’s financial needs will be met.

Over the last four years, I’ve invested tens of thousands of dollars into operating FreeFiltering at a loss. Up to this point in life, I haven’t been very “good” at “business”. My main goal in life is eternal; to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

But, I have come to the realization over the last four years, that if we are going to have thousands, or even millions of families using this service a decade from now, it will require funding. Funds to advertise the service so others can find it. Funds to pay for the servers & software, to pay developers. And funds to take care of my family. If you believe in the mission and would like to help, I am very grateful.

You can become a monthly donor, what we call a “Patron”, by logging into your account and clicking the green button.

You can make a one-time gift via PayPal here.

Or Venmo @FreeFiltering

I highly recommend joining our Facebook group so you’ll be the first to find out when the new filtering system is ready for you to set up. If you’re not a Facebook person, follow us on X or Instagram at the links below. I’ll do my best to provide updates across all our social media accounts.

Thank you for your prayers. For your encouraging words. For your financial support. Let’s bring back Christian internet filters and get them running for thousands of families around the world.

If you need to reach me, the best way is sending a text to:

918-552-1176

In Christ,
Michael Mason
Founder, FreeFiltering.org